[rhino369]

It probably depends on your starting age and how long before you really want to get married (women have biological restraints and unless you want a large age difference men do too), and how long you'd date before accurately rating.

12 is probably too high. That would mean you'd date over 30 people. People who are single their whole life don't seriously date that many people.

The article suggests 11 as the number of suitors (as an assumption, not conclusion). That's probably fair, maybe even too high.

So you should settle for the best partner (of any previous) after number 4. That could be 5 but it could also be 6 or 10.